1. Field of Technology
The present application relates generally to telecommunication networks. More specifically, the present application is directed to processing call detail records (CDRs) in a voice-over-IP (VoIP) telecommunication network.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
A VoIP telecommunication network generally includes a plurality of network elements (NEs) that facilitates connection (setup) of endpoints of one or more calls and transmission (transport) of telecommunication data between the endpoints of the call over the VoIP telecommunication network.
Typically, several NEs are involved in call setup and transport. A simple call may involve just a few NEs while a complex call may involve many NEs. Calls that encounter problems during call setup are generally automatically retried through different NEs adding to the number of NEs associated with these calls.
The NEs associated with a call typically generate call detail records (CDRs). The CDRs for a given call may have some common but also some unique call-related information. Typical call-related information indicated in a CDR can include start and end times of a call, call duration, calling and called telephone numbers, addressing of the NEs associated with the call, as well as other pertinent call-related information. The type of call-related information, its formatting and location in CDRs from different NEs can differ widely.
For various reasons, CDRs frequently have missing or incomplete call-related information making their correlation to a given call difficult. Accordingly, fault identification and reporting in the VoIP telecommunication network has been affected negatively.
There have been attempts to use a unique call ID in the CDRs as a correlation key for a given call. This can be successful only if: (1) call IDs are in fact recorded in the CDRs; and (2) the call IDs do not change as the call progresses between various NEs. However, in practice, neither of the foregoing requirements has been satisfied generally. Alternative attempts have used CDRs from a given NE type in isolation of all other NE types. However, this at best paints an incomplete connection/transmission picture for any given call.